


Dear, My Murderer

by Brentinator



Category: Original Work
Genre: Abuse, Assault, Attempted Sexual Assault, Bisexual Male Character, Child Abuse, Domestic Violence, Drama, Drugs, High School, Love, Major Original Character(s), Mentions of Cancer, Multi, Murder, Murder Mystery, Original Character Death(s), Original Character(s), Original Character-centric, Original Female Character(s) - Freeform, Original Universe, Romance, Teenage Drama, Teenage Parents, Violence
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-05-31
Updated: 2018-07-08
Packaged: 2019-05-16 14:19:53
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 5
Words: 2,899
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14813009
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Brentinator/pseuds/Brentinator
Summary: When two teenagers find Madelyn Stapleton brutally murdered in the school parking lot on the night of prom, everyone assumes it was a random killing.After all, Madelyn was the most loved girl in school. But as the Stapleton's file a lawsuit against the school, the police find evidence that whoever killed Madelyn Stapleton goes to school with her.And her boyfriend is immediately the main suspect.





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> "I'm only gonna post my Spider-Man stories on here!"
> 
> Well, hopefully that solidifies my inability to keep promises on the internet.
> 
> This is a original story that will deal with the following subjects.
> 
> Past attempted suicide, drug use, teenage pregnancy, mentions of cancer, homicide, attempted sexual assault, violence, domestic violence, child abuse, a child passing from cancer, threats, bullying, cyberbulling, a bisexual male and assault. 
> 
> If you do not wish to read on one or all of these matters, please don't read, and don't leave hate comments on it cause you're offended. 
> 
> This is your final warning if you are uncomfortable with these topics. I don't want to trigger you.
> 
> If you do need help in your real life involving one of these topics, please reach out for help.
> 
> If you need someone to talk to, I am on here (duh), Fanfiction.net and Wattpad, and I'll answer your message ASAP.
> 
> And now, enjoy.

March 27th, Kennedy High School, Arizona, 2017

"Just stay quiet." Devan Jacobson whispered, turning the corner of the school building and doing his best to need his own advice.

"This is a bad idea." Ruby Sansford insisted, getting scared they would get caught as she ran a hand through her hair. "What if someone catches us?"

"They won't, Ruby. Besides, we're two minors. We both know Payton is downing her fourth shot and Kenton is snorting cocaine somewhere. We are probably in the lease amount of trouble."

"Fine. What about one of the buses? It's the front parking lot near the edge, and no one would go over there."

"Perfect." Devan smiled, gently grabbing Ruby's hand, and taking her by the hand towards the front parking lot, getting excited for what was to come in the few minutes after they went inside the bus.

Suddenly, Ruby's ear piercing scream broke through the cricket noises, and for good reason too.

Madelyn Stapleton was laying on her back on the parking lot, with strangulation marks on her neck, and not breathing.

Devan responded quickly by kneeling beside her and yelling.

"Ruby, call 9-1-1! I'm gonna start CPR!"

 

Thanks to @Altoclefislife for helping with this story!!!!!


	2. Chapter 1

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The police investigation begins

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm sick! Yay! (Not)
> 
> Luckily, this is prewritten, but still.
> 
> Hope y'all enjoy!

OFFICIAL ARIZONA STATE POLICE REPORT FILLED OUT BY SHERIFF MICHAEL HAWKINS ON 4/28/17

On 4/27/17 at 7:45 MST at Kennedy High School, 9-1-1 was called to assist a teenager who was a victim of attempted homicide in order to resuscitate her, as well as block off the school to look for the person who carried out this crime. 

Madelyn Emma Stapleton was pronounced dead at 9:35 MST after being resuscitated once, but going into cardiac arrest shortly after and unable to be resuscitated a second time. 

She does not have any known enemies, but police are still investigating this case and questioning friends and family. More details will be added.

\-----------------------------------

"Alex, I know you're distressed, but we have to know what happened last night." 

"I'll tell you what happened last night, my girlfriend was strangled for no reason, and I'm being accused of killing her with zero evidence!" The teenager yelled, running his hand through his hair, trying not to have a panic attack over the news. 

"We are not accusing you. We just have to question friends, family and the people they've dated first before questioning other suspects." 

Alex took a deep breath, fighting the tears brimming in his eyes, cause he refused to cry in front of this cop when he couldn't even muster up the courage to cry to his family that night, before agreeing to answer questions.

"Did Madelyn have any known enemies? A ex, or someone who was jealous of her?"

"No. Madelyn was the most adored person in the school. No one would want to kill her, and yeah, she dated a couple of guys before me, but that was in 7th and 8th grade. They never even kissed." Alex insisted, running a hand through his hair.

"What about family? Did she have someone who resented her in her family?" 

"Not that I knew of. Her parents and siblings adored her, like everyone else."

"So what do you think happened?"

"I think some asshole had a urge to kill, saw Madelyn, and just went for it." Alex insisted before sniffing loudly, not wanting to cry, refusing to cry, but his urge to cry took over, and he wiped away his tears. "They clearly had no regard for her life."

The cop nodded, passing him a tissue box, which he took gratefully and wiped his eyes, before he stood up with the papers in hand.

"Stay here, I'll come get you in a minute."

It took ten minutes for the cop to come back and let him go home, which he did, and cried while looking at the background of his phone, which was him and Madelyn on prom night in their masquerade masks.

Then a DM popped up from a unknown Twitter user under "datingkiller75"

'Did it hurt when you found out I strangled your pretty girlfriend? You should've heard her final scream. It was so fricking loud, I'm surprised you found out after she was pronounced dead. Oh, yeah, and I hooked up with her first. She insisted she and you had moved on, but screamed your name when I got too rough. I choked her, but she tore me off and started running. Of course, I didn't come to the dance to hook up with your girlfriend. I came to the dance to kill Madelyn Emma Stapleton.'

He knew this wasn't the killer. Unless you were mentally insane, you wouldn't tell the boyfriend that you killed her. So he typed back.

'Stay out of this, you troll.'

When he clicked send, however, it didn't go through, and instead, a message popped up from Twitter.

'This account has been deleted'


	3. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> We continue to meet more of Madelyn's past friends, and her boyfriend continues to get messages, but the old fashioned way.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You guys get double uploads today!!!!
> 
> Also, I figured I should give you the cast list.
> 
> Kelli Berglund - Madelyn Stapleton  
> Zac Efron - Alex Garner  
> Zendaya - Ruby Sansford  
> Taylor Swift - Ashley Corville  
> Shawn Mendes - Marcus Hughes  
> Dove Cameron - Chloe Amberlyn   
> Jung Kook - Calvin Banks  
> Millie Bobbie Brown - Brittney Stapleton  
> Finn Wolfhard- Kyle Stapleton  
> Tom Holland - Devan Jacobson  
> Dylan O'Brien - Briar Keys  
> Joe Jonas - Kenton Hathaway  
> Selena Gomez - Payton Craig  
> Camilla Cabello - Catherine Marley  
> Erika Costell - Maci Simpson  
> Karen Barr - Darryl Northsdrop  
> Paris Berelc - Jaclyn Cornett  
> Cole Spouse - Blaine West  
> Naya Rivera - Marissa Piper  
> Ross Lynch - Vincent Grey
> 
>  
> 
> Hope you enjoy these updates!!!!!!

"Ms. Corville, thanks for coming." Sheriff Hawkins told the blonde teenage girl, sitting down with his files.

"Can we make this fast? I have to get back to my family." The teenager, Ashley Corville insisted, straightening the white and pink floral print dress she was wearing before locking eyes with the sheriff.

"If you cooperate, this will go fast." The sheriff insisted, clicking his pen. "Where were you during the dance on Saturday?"

"I was at a visitation service." Ashley chocked, trying to keep the tears inside of her, cause all she had done for these past four days was cry, even before her best friend died.

"Can you give me the full name of the individual who's service you attended?"

"Rachel Taylor Corville." Ashley chocked back another sob, finding it considerably harder to hold it in. " My younger sister."

The sheriff nodded, writing something down. "Do you wish you had been at the dance that night?"

"I knew my sister wasn't gonna get better, and while I had planned on going months in advance, I wanted to stay at the hospital with her while I could. As much as I love Madelyn, I'm glad I didn't go."

"Why?"

"I'm a blonde sixteen year old girl. If some sick man was gonna rape a girl, he'd go for the pretty ones, and, I'm not ugly."

"So you think it was a random killing."

"Absolutely." Ashley insisted, wiping a tear from her face. "Some sick guy, most likely one of my classmates parents, decided to get something he couldn't get from his wife anymore, so he went after Madelyn, and when she struggled, he strangled her."

"Would you have saved Madelyn if you were able to?"

"Who wouldn't?" Ashley snorted. "I may be considered a "Regina George", but Madelyn didn't deserve this. She was the only person in our senior class who wouldn't have gotten a job at McDonald's to pay for some shitty college tuition she wouldn't even use. Not just cause she was vegan."

The sheriff nodded, standing up and leaving the interrogation room, but not before asking. "Does she have anymore close friends?"

"Marcus Hughes, who didn't show up on Saturday either, and Ruby Sansford, who found her body."

•••••••••••••••••

"My name is Ashley Ingrid Corville, and my little sister, Rachel, was a beam of sunlight in the darkness, even all throughout her chemotherapy and radiotherapy treatments, if you were having a bad day, her smile would make all your worries melt away." She stopped, to take a deep breath, but it didn't do anything as she continued in a tearful voice.

"She had a huge crush on Harry Styles. She never stopped talking about him, and how great of a guy he was, and I just thought it was her obsession with him, but then she actually got to meet him through Make-A-Wish, and he was the...the most amazing guy. She and I had some deep conversations, and she asked..." She stopped again, only to let some tears stream down her cheek. "She asked that if she died, that I perform this song at her service. Rachel, this is for you..."

Ashley turned away from the stand to put her guitar strap on, and set up the mic, before starting.

"Just stop your crying, it's a sign of the times." ...

•••••••••••••••

Alex walked into school the next day, trying to ignore the looks from everyone who CLEARLY thought he must've killed Madelyn, which was a load of B.S.

"Hey, Alex." He turned to see Jaclyn Cornett staring right at him. "What the hell is everyone talking about?"

He had forgotten she was in Colorado visiting her sister for a couple of weeks. So, he told her.

" Madelyn was killed during prom. The police are trying to figure it out."

Jaclyn sighed. She and Madelyn had never been close, in fact, they kinda hated each other. That didn't mean she didn't feel bad, though.

"I'm sorry, Alex."

"It's okay." He insisted, going to his locker to grab his algebra textbook when a small note fell out when he pulled it out.

He picked it up and opened it, before almost passing out over what it said.

'Since you didn't read my DM, I'm gonna do this the old fashioned way. Catch me if you can.'


	4. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> We meet the person who found Madelyn's body, and Alex starts getting ready to look into things on his own.

Ruby looked over at all the pictures of her, Ashley and Madelyn gracing the walls of her room.

While she and Ashley had grown apart, they both got along around Madelyn, and it was evident where they had grown apart in the pictures from homecoming, at Madelyn's 15th birthday party, and during the school trip to Phoenix.

All of a sudden, she was back in the bathroom in March, talking to her childhood friend after she had vomited.

"Ruby, tell me what's going on. Is it a eating disorder?"

Ruby shook her head, trying to keep her tears from spilling down her face, but failing at doing so.

"Then what is it?" Madelyn questioned, handing Ruby a few tissues out of her purse, which she took gratefully and wiped her eyes. "Please tell me, Ruby."

"I-I'm pregnant." Ruby chocked out, before sobbing, the tissues not doing anything to help, and she expected Madelyn to tell at her, but then she felt a pair of warm, comforting arms wrap around her, and a calming voice that whispered.

"It's gonna be okay, Ruby."

She was snapped out of it by her six month old daughter, Abigail, crying for her. So, she picked her up and grabbed her bottle that was sitting on her night stand, gently working it into her mouth, calming the baby down.

Ruby heard a car pull up to her driveway, and glanced out the window to see Devan getting out of his car.

She smiled, and turned to Abigail, who was falling asleep while eating.

"Your dad is here, Abby."

•••••••••••••••••••

"So you have all been getting weird notes in your locker too?" Alex asked the three girls who were really close to Madelyn the next day at school.

"Yeah. It's really weird." Maci sighed, pushing her backpack strap up her shoulder. "It's almost like whoever did this wants us to catch them."

"Or maybe this is just a classmate who wants attention." Catherine told them. "The person who did this probably is a grown ass man who just had a urge to kill."

"Or maybe whoever is doing this just wants to get in our heads." Payton suggested. "That's the most logical explanation."

"Let's get to class, and bring the notes at lunch." Alex insisted, the four of them walking to their separate classes.

But he just couldn't shake the sinking feeling that whoever killed her was close.


	5. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> We dive into the life of Marcus Hughes, and Alex gets pulled away from his cousin's soccer game by some heavy news being delivered by Payton.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys! Hope you guys enjoy this update! 
> 
> And if you have other characters you want me to do a focused chapter on, let me know. 
> 
> I have two other characters i wanna focus on and those are Payton Craig (who is in a toxic relationship, and struggles with substance abuse) and Darryl Northsdrop (who is a bisexual teen scared of telling anyone cause his school is divided between right and left.)
> 
> I'm thinking I'm gonna do Payton's chapter next, but let me know which one you guys want.
> 
> Hope you enjoy this chapter!

Marcus sighed as he hid in the bushes near Madelyn's house, and yes, most people would think that is weird and borderline stalking, but this was his safe place. Where he knew he wouldn't be hurt. 

Ever since he was eleven, he would come here for food, water and especially refuge from his home, even though this has been going on for years before that, but once he met Madelyn, he would hide in those bushes and wait until his mother left that night for work and then go home and go to sleep.

It was a pretty intense cycle of getting up in the morning, doing chores, going to school, finishing homework, doing more chores and then leaving again all while avoiding his mother before she went to her night shift, but if that's what it took not to get hit, he would gladly take it.

The abuse had started when he was eight, and while his mother was always stricter on him then his sister who was sixteen at the time, things didn't go sour until his parents divorced and while the court had to choose who he lived with, his sister, Jacqueline, was able to go live with their dad in Chicago. 

After they had left, his mother took out all her anger out on him, and while she got physical a lot, the majority of the abuse was verbal, the main thing being "I wish I never had a second child!"

The one thing Marcus had been able to save of his dad's was a old, dingy, dark green jeep that normally stayed in the parking lot of his Uncle's grocery store or in a parking garage near the school. Because if his mother found it, she would have it scrapped immediately.

The week before all of this stuff with Madelyn happened, he hadn't been able to escape his mother, and she had smacked him in the face in such a fit of rage, he had bruised up his shoulder pretty badly, and thought it was dislocated until his on and off girlfriend, Ashley Corville, had looked at it and insisted it was just a bad bruise.

He had been dating Ashley on and off since they were fourteen, and the result of their "breaks" were usually differing interests, too much going on in one of their lives, or arguments. This one had been because Ashley's sister was very close to dying, and she didn't want to leave her side, so she had said they needed yet another break till she could get stuff figured out.

So, he did what he normally did. He drove the green jeep from Ashley's house to Madelyn's and crouched into her bushes, letting himself go.

Then he heard a screen door open and someone come towards him, before seeing the kind brunette look at him with concern.

"Marcus? Come on out. I'm not gonna hurt you."

Marcus did as he was asked, and gratefully took the fleece blanket from Madelyn, taking in it's warmth, and wiping his tears away with it.

"So what are you doing here?" She asked, brushing a bit of hair out of his eyes and positioning herself correctly on the ground. "I mean, it IS 10:00 pm. Everything okay at your house?"

Marcus just shook his head, feeling the emotions of the past 8 years boil inside of him as he whispered.

"No."

"Can I help?" Madelyn asked softly, not wanting to provoke him any more, but just the sound of someone caring for him caused him to grab onto her and start sobbing hysterically. "Hey, hey, Marcus, I've got you. Shh..." She tried to sooth him, but she was truly shocked by what he said next in between rapid breaths and sobs.

"I...I wish my mom held me like this."

Madelyn went into what her twin siblings called "gonna kick whoever made you cry's ass" mode as she practically squeezed Marcus so tightly that she thought that she could honestly cut off his air supply if she wanted too, which she obviously didn't.

"Please tell me you are gonna take this to the police."

"I don't know how." Marcus admitted, starting to wipe his tears away, but Madelyn stopped him, holding his wrists on his lap gently.

"I don't want you to hide this any more, Marcus. On Tuesday, we are going to the police together and telling them everything. Deal?"

Marcus nodded, and hugged her tightly, whispering "thank you" as she hugged him back. 

"You're welcome."

Marcus stood up, and got in his jeep, before driving back to his own house.

Little did he know in that moment, she wouldn't be able to accompany him on Tuesday, cause someone would brutally murder her at prom the night before, causing him to build more barriers around himself, instead of finally letting people in. Even Ashley.

·············

Alex's knee bounced as he watched his cousin's soccer game on the bleachers, really trying to focus on it and not what happened to Madelyn for once this week.

He was trying to figure out who could've done it, but really anyone can strangle a petite girl who wasn't expecting it with the right knowledge.

And then Payton, one of the cheerleaders, ran up to Alex and ushered him over to a more secluded area.

"Two things. One, this was on my locker." She told him, handing him a folded piece of paper which he quickly opened only to read.

'Since you clearly can't read my notes, Alexander, I'm gonna give my clues to someone who can listen. Maybe they can figure out my identity.'

"Okay." Alex swallowed, putting the note in his pocket. "What's the other thing?"

Payton showed him her phone screen where the official police statement about the autopsy was listed.

**Author's Note:**

> Please tell me how I can improve as the story goes on, but please be kind as well.


End file.
